For the Glory of God

I am continually fascinated with the story of our nation and the careful work and bloody battles that went into its making.  The dedication and sacrifices that our founding fathers made are really amazing.  

This Independence Day, let's not forget America.  

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But more importantly, let's not forget why America began.


"Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia [...]" - From the Mayflower Compact


"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

- Patrick Henry

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Let's not forget why America is.




"The hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations." - George Washington to Thomas Nelson Jr.


"We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come." - Samuel Adams

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Do me a favor today, will you? Spend a few minutes praying for America and her future.


"The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained." - George Washington 


"The time has come to turn to God and reassert our trust in Him for the healing of America….Our country is in need of and ready for a spiritual renewal." - Ronald Reagan

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Happy Independence Day.

Pretty Rocks and Water

About vacations.... it doesn't matter how far away you go, as long as it's somewhere you can relax.

the biggest, cleanest, and (i think) most sparkly great lake

And that's a good thing, because with a family of seven (eight, counting Grandma), it's hard to travel across the country whenever we need to get away.

my brothers and i aboard the "vista star", a tourist boat.  it was a cold ride, but a fast and a fun one.

This week, we took a road trip to Duluth - a city on Lake Superior.  This is the Boston and New York City of Minnesota, in my opinion, and you can't call yourself a true Minnesotan until you've paid it a visit.  This was my second time there.

the famous lift bridge

We only stayed for two nights, but we milked them for all they were worth.  Besides the trip on the Vista Star, we went indoor rock climbing (I enjoy these battles against my inner fear of heights), swimming at a waterpark hotel, and got malts at a malt shoppe on the boardwalk.

The second place at which we stayed serves s'mores every night.  Needless to say, those were much enjoyed.

my own brother wouldn't hold his marshmallow still, so this picture is of another kid's sugary treat.  i seem to adopt little brothers wherever i go.

remember what i said about 'most sparkly'?

The high on Thursday in Duluth was in the fifties, quite a drastic change from our hundreds at home on Tuesday.  The average water temperature of Lake Superior is 39 degrees fahrenheit.  So, no swimming.  But there were boulders heaped up along the coast near our hotel, so we climbed around on those.

Also, in the pebbly sand, we searched for sea glass.  A piece of sea glass is glass that has been worn away and tumbled in the water.  This pieces look a lot bigger than they actually are - don't be deceived.  That green one on the left is a little larger than my thumbnail.  

But we found a lot.  And if we found a piece of regular glass, we tossed it into the water to be sea-glass-ified, as was our duty as sea glass hunters.

Oh yeah - my family got to see this movie - one of my favorites in the entire world. 

Rapunzel: "Well...I do like ducklings!"

Flynn Rider: "Yay!"

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"Hey! Gimme back my guy!" - Rapunzel

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"Rapunzel, please, stop with the mumbling. You know how I feel about the mumbling. Blah blah blah blah, it's very annoying! I'm just teasing, you're adorable. I love you so much, darling." - Mother Gothel

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"Here's your pan, here's your frog." - Flynn Rider

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"BEST! DAY! EVEERRR!" - Rapunzel

After so much climbing and sailing and rock hunting and wave watching and huddling on boulders in fifty-degree weather, it was no surprise that our time of relaxation backfired into exhaustion.  

But I mean the good kind.

- Ellyn

Let's Go Fly A Kite...

It's an Easter / near-Easter tradition at our house.  A Spring kickoff.  And lots of fun.  The above kite was the star of the event.

My brother snapped the above of me with my kite.  I think this was just after we got it down from the apple tree.  My other brother kindly got it down for me.

He's very skilled.

But then this kite - remember? The star of the show? -

Ran out of string and...well...didn't come back.

Oops.

Now it's in a neighbor's tree, and we pass it every time we come back from town.

Nevertheless, it was a fun day and we're hoping to fly some more of these babies on Easter.

And here's a...um...spontaneous photo of me with braces.  :)

Have a happy Easter holiday.

He is Risen!

- Ellyn

The Sweet Day

not my image

I'll admit, the above is what Valentine's Day means to me.  :)

But in celebration for this holiday of love, I did do some other stuff....

- Went to a sleepover "retreat" at my friend Anita's house for studies on marriage, a BBC romance, and sweet snacks.  It was a great and refreshing time, and we all had fun packing heart boxes with candy and tie-dye socks for the little girls at church.  We signed them, "The Valentine's Ninjas."

- Wrote a sappy snippet with my favorite couple in Hearts Unbroken.  Phew.  I'm glad that's out of my system, and it will stay in my notebook where no one can find it.  

- Ate lots of yummy food at our Italian potluck at church.  Mmmm (!) After that, we went on a so-called "stroll" in the almost 50 degree weather and had a bare-hand snowball fight.  It was fun.  Not really related to Valentine's Day, but because it was so fun, I thought I should mention it.

- Thanked God for the tremendously deep love He has for me.   

Romans 8:38-39 ~ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Growth

With the New Year approaching, I have been trying to decide how much to post on my blog.  My old resolutions, new resolutions, a summary of what I've done this year...

The problem is that some of it is pretty close to my heart, and as much as I'd like to post it, I also don't want my blog to be my heart.  I express myself better with pen and paper (or Microsoft Word and computer keys), and I like to record things so I'll remember them, but I don't want all of those things out on cyberspace.

So, for the New Year of 2011, I've decided to post a few verses that I've held very close throughout 2010.  Read them carefully - I wish I could portray the same joy they give me to you in this post, but different words touch different people.

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Deuteronomy 4:7 ~ What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?"

I love the casual yet sincere feeling in this verse.  And there may even be a hint of humor - after all, none of the other gods are real... :) But the best part is knowing that these words are true.

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1 Corinthians 10:13 ~ No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

I struggled with some very new temptations this year and this verse was a great comfort.

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Colossians 3:23-24 ~ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

We're working for the Lord! How exciting is that - our employer is the kindest, fairest, best, and probably most-well known in the entire world.  So why wouldn't we want to work with all our hearts for Him?

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1 Peter 5:7 ~ Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Something I murmur to myself when I need to stop, take a deep breath, and...give God control.

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Isaiah 40:31 ~ [...] Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Oh.  Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful - almost makes me cry.  Before this summer, this verse was just kind of there.  It's something lots of people use to inspire others and its very well known among Christians.  But what gave it new meaning for me was a scene in - very odd - Avatar! I'm not an Avatar fan, but this scene and this verse just go together so beautifully.  Can you guess which one it is?

not my image

The world does not Hope in God.  They are chained to the clifftop - which for the moment is safe.  But we - we who do Hope in God - we're free to fly! We soar, we run, we walk - we have wings.  When Neytiri is flying her dragon, and later when Jake is flying his, both of their joy at being airborne is just so overwhelming.  That's how we should be when hoping in God.  Have joy, friends! The clifftop won't always be safe.

not my image

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Romans 8:26 ~ We do not know how to pray worthily as sons of God, but his Spirit within us is actually praying for us in those agonizing longings which never find words.

To some, having an omniscient God may be a little frightening - but to me, it's encouraging.  It's good to know I can't have anything to hide from him, and even better, to know that he understands my feelings.  I don't always have to articulate what I'm trying to say in clumsy sentences.  He knows.

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Ephesians 3:20-21 ~ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ever wonder why God doesn't do everything we want? It's 'cause He knows way more than we do! :) He sees the big picture and He's always working in us, even if we don't feel anything.  He finds ways to accomplish His will that we could never have dreamed of.  He can do the unthinkable.  Isn't it comforting that the world doesn't go round on our own ideas? We would have crashed long ago.

To You be glory, Lord!

Amen.


Yours,

Ellyn

Give Thanks and Eat!

I'm amazed at how fast Thanksgiving came and went.  Did you get the same feeling?

I hardly got any pictures this year...not even one of the bird before my dad carved it up.  I guess that's good though - I was thinking about family and having fun and not about blogging.  Find the good in every situation, right?

Here's a picture of our full house - every name on our guest list is present.

I could describe in glowing detail who everyone is, what they do for a living (like Uncle Bill, who is the groundskeeper for the San Diego Chargers field!), and everything we did together...

But you would not enjoy it.  We just have too many in jokes, and if I tried to re-tell everything, it would lose its charm.  So...

Here's another picture.  The cousins!

Stuff we did..........

Saw Tangled.  (My favorite animated movie second only to Up! It was adorable and Rapunzel was so cute.  Even though I sensed a few bad underlying themes, you gotta see it.)

I learned how to play poker.  Not for keeps, of course.  :)   

Went on an excursion.  1 1/2 miles down the highway in the snow to get fried chicken...then we walked back.  It was fun.  And while we were there...

Returned a cell phone to its owner.  My brother found it, so we took it into the restaurant with us and scrolled through all the pictures (grand total of three) and finally, Uncle Bill called the home number and had this conversation.  

"Hello?"

"Who's this?"

"The person who found your phone."

"You found my phone?!"

"If it's your phone, I found it."

He said his name was Dwayne, so we left it at the counter for him to pick up.  Every person that walked into that restaurant was temporarily branded as Dwayne, until Dwayne himself finally walked it.  We didn't give ourselves away, and on the way home all our jokes were centered on Dwayne....oh, and hitchhiking.  With Dwayne.  Poor Dwayne.

Played games.  Battleship, Settlers of Catan, Taboo...and Sequence.  The Original Sequence Team has been going for maybe five years, and the teams consist of Blue: Cousin Frank and my brother John, Green: Cousin Larissa and me, and this year, since Larissa got married, we had to add Jimmy to the mix, so Team Red: Jimmy and Brothers Eli / Will.  

Red did very well, but I think it was partly because Green would much rather have Red win than Blue, and Blue would much rather have Red win than Green.  But Green did not do very well this year.  At least we won the last game.  Last Thanksgiving, Blue didn't win once though, so it was okay.  Here's our yearly team picture.

Ate a lot.  Of course! Sadly, the pecan pie and the peach pie didn't turn out, but the apple and pumpkin were good.  The 24 pound turkey was very good too.  And Thanksgiving Lunch - now that was a wonder all in itself.  Olives, crackers, fancy cheeses, salami, veggies and dip, and dark chocolate make a great feast, don't you think?

  

Naturally, I'm sad today since everyone is gone.  :( But I think a romp in the snow will do the trick.  I'm off!

Love from a very thankful,

Ellyn

Fair Day

We went to the county fair today! My favorite part was the horse show (duh), and I snapped lots of pics. Maybe I'll be competing next year :) Here are a few of my favorite photos. And hey...if you ever need photography opportunities, go to a fair! You get horses, food, cute baby goats, and colorful spinny things shaped like dragons. What more can you ask for?

Git 'er home!

I love this flag picture. I gave it an antique tint.

Tails up! It's a floating horse! :)

Ferris wheel. By the way, I hate rides. I just take pictures of them.

My friend Grace.

Check out that nice lean!